Caitatonic
03-13-2012, 11:33 AM
First, the basics: My name is Cait, I'm 20 years old and from northeast Alabama. I'm a college student transitioning from a computer science degree to a history degree. I'm getting married in October.
I've always had anxiety problems. When I was younger, I was extremely phobic of thunderstorms but I grew out of that. I developed hypochondria when I was a young teenager and from there things got worse. My anxiety seems to cyclical, and I grew out of the hypochondria as well. Now it's just a full blown panic disorder. Twice, I spent about 2 weeks not being able to eat anything or go to work or classes because my anxiety causes me to have severe nausea. I ended up being hospitalized and given a prescription for Vistaril as well as a shot of Valium and Zofran for the nausea, which did nothing. I also had to have multiple medical tests done to rule out any other medical causes, including a endoscopy to check for stomach ulcers. The second time it happened I was so miserable that my step-mother nearly took me to the psychiatric ER at our local hospital but the wait was too long.
When the Vistaril stopped working, I was put on zoloft and xanax. The zoloft did nothing except give me horrible insomnia. The Xanax helps immensely, and I'm taking .5 mg daily but I don't want to have to rely on it because I know it's addictive. Unfortunately, it's the only thing that makes me able to function like a normal human being and since I have started taking it daily, I've been feeling much better but I'm terrified of becoming addicted because my biological mother is a drug addict and I already have an obsessive/addictive personality. My doctor took me off Zoloft and put me on Effexor. I think it's working better, but I don't know if it's that or the Xanax. They recent started me on the higher doses and it's been giving me terrible night sweats, but it's worth it.
In addition to a panic disorder, I also have some pretty insane specific phobias. The sound of automated/synthesized voices freaks me out, and I can't stand the thought of over indulgence, especially overeating. I am also extremely acrophobic, but that's more funny than it is anything else because my job requires me to climb a tall ladder and I get scared and freeze and my manager has to come pull me down. It's hilarious. Lastly, I'm also a pretty bad compulsive nail biter.
Anyways, hoping to get to know some other people here and get some advice about my medications and that sort of thing.
I've always had anxiety problems. When I was younger, I was extremely phobic of thunderstorms but I grew out of that. I developed hypochondria when I was a young teenager and from there things got worse. My anxiety seems to cyclical, and I grew out of the hypochondria as well. Now it's just a full blown panic disorder. Twice, I spent about 2 weeks not being able to eat anything or go to work or classes because my anxiety causes me to have severe nausea. I ended up being hospitalized and given a prescription for Vistaril as well as a shot of Valium and Zofran for the nausea, which did nothing. I also had to have multiple medical tests done to rule out any other medical causes, including a endoscopy to check for stomach ulcers. The second time it happened I was so miserable that my step-mother nearly took me to the psychiatric ER at our local hospital but the wait was too long.
When the Vistaril stopped working, I was put on zoloft and xanax. The zoloft did nothing except give me horrible insomnia. The Xanax helps immensely, and I'm taking .5 mg daily but I don't want to have to rely on it because I know it's addictive. Unfortunately, it's the only thing that makes me able to function like a normal human being and since I have started taking it daily, I've been feeling much better but I'm terrified of becoming addicted because my biological mother is a drug addict and I already have an obsessive/addictive personality. My doctor took me off Zoloft and put me on Effexor. I think it's working better, but I don't know if it's that or the Xanax. They recent started me on the higher doses and it's been giving me terrible night sweats, but it's worth it.
In addition to a panic disorder, I also have some pretty insane specific phobias. The sound of automated/synthesized voices freaks me out, and I can't stand the thought of over indulgence, especially overeating. I am also extremely acrophobic, but that's more funny than it is anything else because my job requires me to climb a tall ladder and I get scared and freeze and my manager has to come pull me down. It's hilarious. Lastly, I'm also a pretty bad compulsive nail biter.
Anyways, hoping to get to know some other people here and get some advice about my medications and that sort of thing.